Read Online Always and Forever by Beverly Jenkins - Free Book Online Page A

minutes later, Grace could still feel the heat of his arm against her own. Jackson Blake was dizzying, powerful, and more man than she’d ever met in her life.
    At the conclusion of dessert, the aunts refused to let Grace help them clear the table.
    Dahlia told her, “You and Mr. Blake have business to discuss.”
    “Yes, but I can certainly help with this first.”
    “Go on, Grace,” Tulip said, as she began picking up the dessert plates. “We’re fine here. I’ll bring you in some coffee in a bit or two.”
    Grace surrendered and gestured to Blake to follow her from the dining room.
    Grace ushered him into the study that had once been her father’s. After his death late last fall, the space had become hers. It had taken her weeks to get up the courage to change the room’s physical appearance. She’d wanted his spirit to remain beside her and feared that boxing up his things and storing them away would somehow remove his memory, too. She’d loved her father deeply and he’d loved her. He’d been her only parent for over fifteen years, and her grief had eased only a tiny bit.
    In the end, she stored most of his personal belongings in the attic, but other articles remained: his spectacle case still lay atop the desk where he’d placed it, and the finely etched globes he liked to collect were still positioned tastefully around the room. His imported Cuban humidor lay in its customary spot atop a small QueenAnne table, and beside it sat the large white cup he drank his morning coffee from each day.
    Jackson took a seat on one of the finely upholstered chairs and glanced around the room. All the dark polished wood gave off a man’s feel. This didn’t feel like a woman’s space.
    “This was my father’s study,” she explained, as she took a seat behind the big cherrywood desk. “He died last November.”
    Jackson’s keen instincts had served him well during his lawman days, and although he no longer wore a star, he was glad to know that his sense of people and situations continued to be strong. “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said genuinely.
    “I loved him very much,” she offered, then gathering herself, said, “Let’s get down to business, Mr. Blake. Here’s the list of supplies Mr. Emerson compiled before his untimely death. See if there’s anything you might want to add.”
    He wondered if she were really as strong as she appeared, but he took the ledger from her and began to look at the items listed. “Who’s Mr. Emerson?”
    “The man I originally hired as wagon master. He was killed a few days ago in a knife fight.”
    “Sorry to hear it,” he voiced without looking up. “How much of this stuff do you already have?” Listed were items such as barrels, ropes, tack, cookware, canvas, and many other various items both big and small.
    “I’ve purchased most of what’s on the list. Everything’s being stored in my godfather’s warehouse over in Evanston.”
    “Looks like Emerson knew what he was doing. Can’t think of anything else I’d add, at least, not off the top of my head.”
    When he handed the ledger back to her, she put itback on her desk and said, “Tomorrow, I’ve an appointment to look at horses and mules.”
    “Do you know anything about horses and mules?”
    “Not as much as I need to know, I’m sure, but I’ll manage.”
    “Why do you want to travel by wagon?”
    “Jim Crow.”
    He understood now. “How many ladies did you say were making the trip?”
    “Thirty to thirty-five.”
    She was as poised and as elegant as any woman he’d ever met. With Grace dressed as she was, and with her hair rising softly from her face, he found it hard to imagine her covered with the dirt and grime they would encounter once the journey got under way. “Are you sure you’re cut out for this?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You just don’t look the adventurous type, that’s all. There’s going to be flies and mud and snakes—”
    “You think I’m better suited for